3 Preparing for Multirack Cabling

This chapter describes the preliminary tasks you must complete before you begin to cable multiple Exalogic machines together or a combination of Exalogic machines and Exadata Database Machines together, but after rack installation.

3.1 Preparing a Multirack Cabling Plan

See the appropriate section in this guide for a table that provides connection details for each supported multirack cabling option. Print the applicable chart, so you can have it readily available.

The system naming conventions are as follows. "R" indicates an Exalogic machine rack or an Exadata Database Machine rack. For example, R1 indicates rack 1. "U" indicates the unit height in the rack. For example, U24 indicates rack unit 24. U1 is located at the bottom of the rack, and U42 is at the top of the rack. For more information about Exalogic machine rack layout, see the Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud Machine Owner's Guide.

3.2 Verifying Host Names and Addresses

Before installing the extended cabling, complete Exalogic machine network configuration to ensure that the networking is complete and the system will not have any addressing conflicts. For more information about network configuration for Exalogic machines, see the Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud Machine Owner's Guide.

Verify that the installed Exalogic machine racks have been assigned unique host names and addresses. All compute nodes in all interconnected Exalogic machine racks must have unique addresses and names.

You should consider extending the IP addresses and naming conventions for interconnected racks of Exalogic machines. Extending the names to include a rack value such as name [Rack#]ComputeNode_01 allows you and Oracle repair personnel to identify the source of diagnostic messages that may be displayed.

3.3 Inventorying Cables

Collect and inventory the cables you ordered, if any. You should inventory spare cables from the kit and the existing multirack cables. Each Exalogic machine includes a kit of spare parts.

Some spare cables are used for multirack cabling. The following table lists the spare cables available for the switch, and their length.

No additional InfiniBand cables need to be purchased when connecting an Exalogic machine full rack with another Exalogic machine full rack or with an Exadata Database Machine. The 5-meter cables provided in the spares kit with each Exalogic machine can be used for making the connections.

You can use some cables in the spare parts pool for multirack cabling.

Note:

For Exalogic machine full racks, 16 QSFP passive copper cables of length 5 meter, with part number 594-6387-01, are included in the spare kit. These cables are intended for multirack cabling.

3.4 Gathering Tools

Gather the following tools:

Pen

Notepad

Flashlight

Magnifying glass

Label maker and labels (for cables, KVM console, and rack)

Cable ties (hook-and-loop straps suggested)

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